I haven't updated my graphic-design portfolio in a long time. Naturally, there is a lot of newer work to share.
One of my recent covers is this one. It is an illustration to a mystery-and-crime novel written by a well-known lawyer and a television personality in Russia. This is my second book cover for this client.
The first one—and interior illustrations—are here.
Despite the fact that most of what I post to this blog pertains to photography, my daily grind involves what follows below. That is, converting this:
...into this:
And by "converting" I mean translating, editing, designing and laying out, illustrating, and indexing.
With this particular text on philosophy, once I even realized that I just read a line in ancient Greek (which I've never studied) only after the fact. I'm not mentioning this to brag (okay, I am, a little), but to point out why it's particularly enjoyable to get away from the computer for a photoshoot even if for a little while!
I suppose I should actually blog about some of the major projects in publishing--my current field--that I've completed recently, huh? :)
The 2012 installment of The Law and I (Zakon i ia) has just been released. The latter is a charitable undertaking on the part of Russia's well-known lawyer, radio and TV personality, Ruben Markaryan, who also functions as the editor-in-chief of Zakonia.Ru, that country's premiere online legal portal. This doorstopper of a publication is kind of an annual report in the legal field, but with a twist. It is a collection of articles that are sharp, funny, and, at times, snarky, so illustrating them was quite an enjoyable experience for me!
The book's editor with whom I've worked gave me a lot of creative freedom. Equally important, this project served as a viable lesson in terms of dealing with a client across an ocean (i.e., between western North America and Moscow) on something of this size. I've produced over 50 photo-illustrations--many of which were conceptual--and some of which I've blogged about earlier. Like these:
I was also responsible for cover art and graphic design. We've chosen an immediately obvious archetypal Blind-Justice concept. I certainly remember climbing this Classical-throwback statue (outside of a private home and with permission, worry not!) in the dead of winter with a massive snowstorm, to boot, to blindfold and photograph it.
Next time I might consider wearing gloves!
The book's presentation took place at a legal forum in Saint Petersburg, which I missed by a day, literally!
Source: personal archive of zakonia.ru's editor-in-chief.
Russian actors Nikolai Serdtsev and Maria Malinovskaia from Trial by Jury: Final Verdict, a popular daytime television show screened on Russian state channel NTV check out their colleague's new book:
Source: personal archive of zakonia.ru's editor-in-chief.
Source: personal archive of zakonia.ru's editor-in-chief.
Despite the fear of sounding trite, I will say that I've had a wonderful experience, and I'd love to be able to pursue similar projects for the Russian audience in the future.
Dear Future, please come soon!
